Jackson-Vikings deal referenced by judge

It was no secret that the Vikings made a big-time pitch to acquire then-holdout wide receiver Vincent Jackson from San Diego last season after Sidney Rice was sidelined following hip surgery.

Not surprisingly, both the Vikings and Chargers did their best to keep details quiet at the time. Well, some key details came out Monday when Federal District Judge Susan Nelson granted an injunction that at least temporarily blocks the lockout.

Nelson went so far as to reference the fact that Jackson's agents had come to an agreement on a two-year deal with the Vikings that would have paid him $8 million prorated in 2010 and $11 million in 2011, provided the Chargers traded him to Minnesota.

San Diego general manager A.J. Smith, however, was unwilling to let Jackson go and he made $280,824 when he returned to the Chargers.

According to Alex Marvez's story on the Fox Sports website, Nelson brought up what happened to Jackson and agreed that “irreparable harm” is being suffered by the players during the lockout. There is the possibility that the picks in this week's draft might be unable to play in 2011 if there is a lockout and also there are five potential unrestricted free agents in the Brady v. NFL antitrust lawsuit who might not be able to find employment.

"There can be no real dispute that all of the free-agent players have demonstrated a sufficient threat of irreparable harm warranting the issuance of injunctive relief,” Nelson wrote, per Marvez.

As much as Jackson might have been hurt financially by not coming to Minnesota, he probably didn't suffer as much as the Vikings did by Smith's decision to hold onto him. The Vikings, of course, quickly turned their attention to New England's Randy Moss and sent a third-round pick to the Patriots for a guy who lasted less than a month and cost Minnesota a third-round pick in this upcoming draft.

And we won't even get into the whole story of Brad Childress deciding to release Moss without telling ownership and being fired not long thereafter ...